Lane Evans, a former congressman of Illinois, has died late Wednesday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He is also a Vietnam War-era Marine who fought for veterans' rights during his 24 years in the US House of Representatives.
According to Lane Evan's former congressional staffer and legal guardian, Michael Malmstrom, the former congressman died late Wednesday at a nursing home in East Moline, Illinois. The Huffington Post reported the 63-year-old Democrat who represented the Quad Cities in northwestern Illinois, was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1982 and served until 2007.
Due to the increasingly debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease, former Congressman Lane Evans announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2006 and retired at the end of the 109th Congress.
At age 17, Evans joined the Marines and had orders for Vietnam. Yahoo! News reported he served as a security guard in Okinawa, Japan because his older brother was already deployed in the war. As a congressman, he fought for the rights of veterans and became the senior Democrat on the House Veterans' Affair committee.
At the Congress, Lane Evans pushed legislation to help those exposed to Agent Orange and to give former service members rights to judicial review in pursuing benefits claims. The former congressman also crusaded for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorders and other health problems, as well as those having trouble finding employment.
"In the early days of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Lane was one of the first members of Congress to take on issues like PTSD and TBI [Traumatic Brain Injury]," Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America CEO Paul Rieckhoff said. "He helped put our issues on the map."
Former Congressman Lane Evans was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1995. He didn't publicly announce the diagnosis for three years because he was worried the admission would stigmatize him. He maintained a hectic congressional schedule. But toward the end of his time in office he was briefly hospitalized and missed votes, committee meetings and hearings.
US President Barack Obama has credited Evans with his support for his own political rise. The president said he would not have made it to the US Senate without early support from his fellow Illinoisan.
"[Evans] is one of the most gracious, best humored and hardest working people that I've ever had the pleasure to know," Obama said in a statement late Thursday. "Above all, Lane was an American hero, a dear friend and a beloved public servant of the people of Illinois."
US Senator Dick Durbin also said Thursday that Illinois "lost one of its kindest, most caring public servants."
"Lane told me years later that it was during a joint appearance in 1996 at a Labor Day parade in Galesburg that he first felt the numbing in his hand, which led to his Parkinson's diagnosis, a disease that trapped his body but never restrained his great spirit," Durbin said. "Thank heavens for Lane Evans."
Democratic US Rep. Cheri Bustos, who represents the district former Congressman Lane Evans served, recalled her encounters with him.
"[Evans] represented everything that is right about public service. He was a champion for our region in the halls of Congress and a strong advocate for veterans and working families across the country," Bustos said. "Lane will be sorely missed by all who he touched, but his legacy of service will never be forgotten."
Legal Guardian Michael Malmstrom said Lane Evans died at Hope Creek Care Center, where the former congressman had been living for nearly two years at age 63. Furthermore, reports said he is survived by three brothers.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
